


i'm using white lighters to see what's in front of me

by blixciit



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Comedy, Feelings, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Jealousy, Living Together, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:27:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28687104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blixciit/pseuds/blixciit
Summary: Harry and Louis decide, after years of being single, that they’re going to attend a speed dating event. They end up disinterested in all of their dates, and instead they find themselves peeking at each other across the room the entire time.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	i'm using white lighters to see what's in front of me

**Author's Note:**

> Title inspired by "R.I.P. 2 My Youth" by The Neighbourhood

He found the ad while watching Youtube videos. It had popped up on the sidebar and it seemed like a perfect idea. However, if he were to suggest it to Harry, Harry would probably say no. And Louis’ motto was ‘it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,’ so he went ahead and signed both of them up for it.

He decided to tell Harry about it a week later, precisely two days before the event itself. Which is why, now, he found himself shoving Harry onto their shared living room couch with the sternest expression he could muster up.

“Haz, I did something,” he began. Harry’s face went pale.

“Wh-”

“No! Nothing bad, I promise!” Louis reassured. “I… signed us up for something.”

The color that had started to brighten Harry’s face rushed away again.

“I swear, Louis, if it’s something that’ll get us in trouble-”

“You have no faith in me! When have I ever done something to get us in trouble?” Harry opened his mouth to speak. “Don’t answer that.”

Harry flung his arms up in the air in exasperation. Louis stared at him a moment, trying not to laugh at his poor confused face. He was loving this, really, having this boy all in a tis over his shenanigans. 

“We’re going to a speed dating event in two days,” Louis finally let out in one breath. Harry’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

“Are you out of your mind? Louis, speed dating?”

Alright, so it was not supposed to go this way. Harry was supposed to be on board with this idea and tell Louis that he was the best, not throw a fit.

But now he was throwing all the decorative pillows he insisted on getting right at Louis’ face and shouting about how Louis is an idiot and that he is “perfectly fine as a single man.”

So maybe, just maybe, Louis should have asked first. But, after nearly an hour of being reprimanded about how Louis “cannot just make decisions without consulting me first anymore,” Harry is a tiny bit more okay with the speed dating thing. 

He may have ignored Louis the entire next day, but that’s not important.

***

“Aw, look at you all spiffy in your fancy clothes,” Louis teased, tugging on one of Harry’s curls as they looked at themselves in the bathroom mirror. Harry grabbed Louis' arm and wacked him in the back of his head, pulling a dramatic “ow!” from Louis.

They fixed themselves up for a few more moments, Harry positively huffing and puffing the entire time while Louis giggled at his angry face.

Harry didn’t speak the first ten minutes of the drive, leaving Louis to ponder to himself about how he thought the night would go. When he looked over, he could practically see the steam coming out of Harry’s ears.

“Oh, c’mon Hazza! This could be good for us!” Louis said. “We’ve both been single for, what, three years now? I figured it was about time we got ourselves somebody to do cute little activities with on the weekends. Don’t you think that’d be fun?”

Harry didn’t reply for a while, so Louis sat back in his seat and frowned. He just wanted to do something nice for the both of them.

“You know what,” Harry finally spoke when they were about five minutes away. “You’re right. This can be fun.”

Louis smiled and looked over at him. Harry was smiling, too, but it was off. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, and Louis was really beginning to wonder if this was actually hurting Harry. He just hoped that Harry would be able to find somebody he was interested in to get him to feel a little bit better about the whole thing.

Upon entering, they were a bit taken aback. The room looked as if it were literally straight out of a rom-com; dim lights, fancy tables having been set up in rows and adorned in cream colored tablecloths. Each table held a red candle and baby pink carnations along with a small stack of paper at each seat. There was a group of people beginning to gather around one woman in a lilac dress and white blazer. She had a binder tucked in her arm and was smiling at all the guests, so Louis and Harry traded glances and made their way over to her. 

“Welcome, I would like to start off by thanking you all for coming tonight,” the woman spoke. “I’m glad all of you could make it and I hope you’re excited to meet each other. I am going to begin by reading off your names just to get an idea of what I’m working with.”

By the time she got to Harry, Louis had zoned out watching the people around him. He noticed that there were a few more women than men, much to his disappointment.

“Harry Styles?” She called out.

“Here,” Harry replied, awkwardly raising his hand up and waving at the rest of the group. Louis held in his snort.

“Louis Tomlinson?”

“Here.” 

Once the woman finished taking roll call, she led the group over to the tables and started seating them. Louis was seated right in the middle with a pretty girl with red hair and pink lips, while Harry was sitting in the far corner with a curvy brunette. Right before the event began, Louis glanced over at Harry, only to find him staring back. He looked back at his date.

A buzzer went off, indicating that the guests could begin. The woman, who’s name was Ella, had informed the group that the buzzer would allow each couple ten minutes to talk and one minute to rotate. The stacks of paper at each seat were questions and icebreakers.

“My name is Jade,” his date stated, holding her hand out across the table. Louis shook it.

“Louis. Nice to meet you.” Louis looked down at his paper, seeing that it said ‘occupation.’ “So, what do you do for a living?”

“Well, I’m a high school history teacher during the week, and I work as a bartender on the weekends sometimes,” Jade replied, smiling brightly.

“Oh, nice, I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.”

Halfway through their conversation, Louis’ eyes wandered back over to Harry, who looked fully intrigued in whatever it was that his date was talking about. And that… shouldn’t have had any effect on Louis. Harry was a charmer, he knew how to talk to people and give them his full attention. But… Just but. This was different. There could be an outcome this time.

Louis had politely taken Jade’s number when the buzzer rang, but he stuffed it into his suit pocket when they parted ways. His next date was another redhead, but this girl’s hair had been dyed more of a cherry red as opposed to the last, who’s was natural. 

He looked over at Harry again and caught his eyes. Harry was seated with a man this time, very muscular with slicked back hair. Louis shrank in his seat a little, feeling inferior to this hunk of a man who was talking to his best friend. Harry flashed Louis that same ingenuine smile, and this time Louis reciprocated it. 

They got through a few more dates, Louis glancing at Harry and Harry glancing at Louis, until Louis got seated with a man about Harry’s size, perhaps a bit taller. He had a nose ring and was wearing a black turtleneck underneath his red blazer. He was hot, Louis could admit, but he was turned off the moment he opened his mouth.

“Do you mind if I go use the restroom? I mean, I’m sure you wouldn’t since we’re both dudes anyway.”

Louis glared at him before waving him off. He sat there fidgeting with a piece of paper while his eyes, inevitably, found their way back to Harry. He looked uncomfortable, sitting across from a blonde woman undoubtedly much older than him. She was thin and pale, wearing a navy blue cocktail dress and black heels. Harry was playing with his rings and bouncing his knee, a telltale sign that he was nervous. Louis wanted to jump up right then and pull him out of there, but he didn’t want to make a scene. 

The woman was talking animatedly, flailing her hands around and making exaggerated expressions. Louis would quite like to know what she was talking about that she found so interesting. Her date was obviously not as engrossed in the topic as she was.

And- _woah._ Louis had to stop himself from his train of thought, having realized that he was being extremely hypocritical. He was the one who had dragged Harry there, and now he was… jealous? That had to be what it was, right? There couldn’t really be any other reason his eyes kept wandering back to Harry.

After that, Louis and Harry continued to catch each other staring multiple times during each date. Coincidentally, their last date of the night was each other. And Louis was nervous. _Nervous._ About _Harry._

He kept having to remind himself that it was _just Harry._ But he was jealous now and he wasn’t usually jealous about Harry. So by the time they were seated across from each other, his heart was pumping.

“Hey, my name is Harry,” he joked, shaking Louis’ shaky hand across the table. 

“Nice to meet you, Harry. I’m Louis,” Louis replied. “How has your night been so far?”

“Ah, skipping the prompts, I see. My night has been… eh. How about yours?”

“I think I can say the same.”

Then they were quiet. They stared at each other, both of them obviously holding back a similar question.

_Why did you keep watching me? Why were you more interested in me than your date? Are you thinking what I’m thinking?_

Louis let the tension simmer while he joked about his dates, Harry listening keenly and chuckling at all the right times. On their way back home, Harry explained to Louis how his night had gone. 

The tension was still there when they got home and began to wind down. They had picked up Chinese and set it up at their dining table.

They sat there and ate in their suits. Every time there was a lull in the conversation, the tension built up so high that Louis felt like he was drowning. 

He let it build and build until he couldn’t take it anymore. So he finally, finally broke it and served Harry a bated question. Louis had no idea whether or not he wanted Harry to take the bait.

“So who was your favorite date?”

His implication was clear as day, probably to both of them. Definitely to both of them, if Harry’s blush was anything to go by. Louis’ stomach was about to sink to his feet.

“I don’t know…” Harry pondered teasingly for a moment. “The last one was pretty cute.”

_BINGO._

“Oh were they now?” Harry nodded, curls bobbing with the motion. “And which one was that, did you say?”

Harry shrugged and stood from the table, bringing his and Louis’ bowl over to the sink to wash. Louis trailed behind him, leaning against the counter beside him as he began scrubbing the dishes.

“C’mon, Haz, I’m getting jealous over here. I’m just dying to know,” Louis probed, inching closer and closer to Harry’s body. He watched as Harry’s face got more and more flushed, and Louis’ heart lurched. 

He knew. He found Harry stunning, right then, washing dishes in his suit and wild hair falling over his forehead. He looked a bit ridiculous, in all that attire and bare feet. He had a soap bubble on his cheek and his crimson lips set in a line containing his smile. There was mirth in his eyes, those familiar crinkles in the corners that only made an appearance when he was especially happy. 

Louis would sell his soul for this boy. How did it take him all this time to realize he was in love with him?

He stood there and waited for Harry to finish the dishes and dry his hands. He was still blushing by the time he turned to Louis, waiting for him to speak up first. 

“How long?” Louis asked seriously, slowly closing the distance between them. Harry hesitated before answering.

“Since the beginning.”

Louis' jaw dropped and he stopped moving. Harry’s eyes widened and he was about to start apologizing before Louis stopped him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Louis asked.

“It took you signing us up for speed dating to figure out your own feelings. You’ve always avoided them,” Harry replied. “I mean, really? Speed dating, Louis? Honestly?”

Louis laughed and moved closer, wrapping his arms around Harry’s waist. Harry locked his arms around Louis' neck and held him tight. 

They stood there holding each other for a few minutes, just bathing in each other’s scent. Harry was the first to move. They kept their arms around each other and looked into each other’s eyes.

Louis moved forward, nudging their noses together first before connecting their lips. Harry’s plump lips were warm and soft, flitting perfectly with Louis’. Minutes that felt like hours passed as they licked into the other’s mouth, exploring this all new territory, something they had both been longing for ages regardless of whether they knew it or not. 

When they pulled away to catch their breath, they smiled at each other.

“You have no fucking idea how good it felt to finally do that,” Harry mumbled, causing Louis to laugh. 

“I love you,” Louis announced, burrowing his head into Harry’s chest.

“And to hear that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
